No Worries Cafe and Grill leaves location, new restaurant fills gap

Front row, from left: Barbara Beran, general manager; Dana Bruschke, owner; and Sophie Nordquist, manager are excited to work together at Breakfast at Dana’s, which officially opened on Feb. 16. Bruce Corrigan, in the back, is working with Bruschke on the joint venture of sharing the restaurant space.

At the start of February, the owners of No Worries Café and Grill announced to their employees that they would be leaving their location in less than two weeks. One of its employees, Dana Bruschke, who had been with the business for 13 years, decided that she would stay and open her own restaurant. Soon, Breakfast at Dana's was in action.

No Worries, which closed on Feb. 10, was located at 8178 Gorgoza Pines Road. It was there on a one-year agreement in which it shared the location with Ahh Sushi and O'Shucks Bar and Grill, according to the business's Facebook page.

In a post dated Feb. 3 on the page, it said that "sharing a location with another business has been difficult at best."

It also stated that it would be serving breakfast and lunch at a new location in the near future.

Bruschke began working at No Worries Café and Grill when it was located at its former longtime home at Parley's Summit. She started as a server and said that it was the perfect job for a single mom raising kids. She eventually worked up to a management position and continued with the café for another five years.

"It became my community," she said.

Recommended Stories For You

When there were difficulties at the café's location in Parley's Summit, Bruschke said, she played a role in connecting owners Dante and Nancy Eggan with Bruce Corrigan, who owns Ahh Sushi and O'Shucks. It was decided that No Worries would serve breakfast in the morning and Ahh Sushi would take over at night.

After a year at the new location, Dante Eggan announced to his employees that No Worries would be selling its business, Bruschke said. She said she made an offer and was denied, but then she had the idea of staying in the space and opening her own restaurant.

Eggan was not available for comment about the future of No Worries Café and Grill.

"I had the opportunity to jump in and start my own restaurant," Bruschke said. "For years I have been wanting to do this."

Bruschke said that she has remained in the restaurant industry because she loves what she does. When she was serving customers every day, she was excited to come to work and see her regulars. As a manager, she enjoyed helping solve problems and make sure everyone walked away with a good experience at the café.

Opening her own place seemed like the next step for her progression.

Although she said that the timing "could not have been better," Bruschke said that getting everything ready to open in only a few weeks has been a bit of a roller coaster.

"I have been out of my comfort zone for three weeks straight," she said. "But it's been great. It's been such a great learning experience."

Bruschke reached out to fellow servers Barbara Beran and Sophie Nordquist to help with the opening of her new business, and they agreed to join her team.

Bruschke said that she has been overwhelmed by the amount of people who are standing around her and helping her, such as Corrigan, who is giving her a chance by sharing the space, which they both lease separately from a management company. Bruschke said she signed a three-year lease.

Corrigan said that he is excited to see where she can take her restaurant.

"She's paid her dues," he said. "For her to get this opportunity is priceless."

Bruschke said that, similar to No Worries, she will be serving breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The menu will have healthy breakfast choices, based off of the menu items she has learned people love.

"I've been working in the restaurant business as a server for so many years, and now it's mine," she said. "I want it to be this happy, energetic place people want to come and visit and feel comfortable in."